The Sensible Mom

Homemade Sugar Scrub: Brown Sugar Face Scrub

September 18, 2019 by Sandra 20 Comments

I’m a huge fan of face and body scrubs.

If you’ve never tried them before, let me tell you, they are awesome! After just one application, you can have fresher, healthier looking skin because of the way sugar scrubs exfoliate those dead skin cells.

The best part is that you can easily make homemade sugar scrubs using everyday items in your kitchen pantry. And your homemade scrubs will cost a fraction of what you’d pay at the store. Have you seen the prices of sugar scrubs in stores? Yikes!

Brown Sugar Face Scrub
I’m hoping to start sharing one DIY recipe each week here on The Sensible Mom, and since sugar scrubs are so amazing, I thought I’d start there. You may remember the last scrub recipe I posted for homemade peppermint sea salt foot scrub. Today’s recipe is just as wonderful, except that it’s for your face.

And it involves only two simple ingredients, honey and brown sugar.

You combine the honey and brown sugar to make a single application of the face scrub. I don’t use it everyday, so I prefer to make only one application at a time. It’s super easy to make this face scrub, though, so I don’t mind. 🙂

Here’s what the end result looks like.

To apply, you simply pull back your hair (highly recommended), and then gently rub the brown sugar scrub all over your face. When you’ve finished, rinse your face and feel how much smoother your skin is when you touch it.

When I used this scrub, I noticed that my skin looked cleaner and totally refreshed right after I rinsed. That feeling carried over into the next day.

Here’s the recipe for my homemade Brown Sugar Face Scrub

Brown Sugar Face Scrub

Ingredients

1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar

Instructions

Stir together the honey and brown sugar in a small dish.
TO APPLY: Pull back hair, and gently rub the facial scrub all over your face. Then rinse and enjoy softer, smoother feeling skin.

https://thesensiblemom.com/2019/09/homemade-sugar-scrub-for-your-face/

Do you use face scrubs? Have you ever tried making your own homemade scrubs?

How to Make a DIY Honey Sugar Facial Scrub (Recipe + Video)

September 16, 2019 by Sandra 5 Comments

Okay, I’m finally ready to share the video on how to make a honey sugar facial scrub. I hope you enjoy it! 🙂

The recipe is simple and only includes two ingredients. In case you want to see the recipe written out, I’ve included the printable version below the video (you can also find it in the description box under the video on YouTube).

How to Make a Honey Sugar Facial Scrub:

Here’s the Printable Recipe:

Honey Sugar Facial Scrub

Ingredients

1 tsp. honey
½ tsp. cane sugar

Instructions

Mix honey and sugar together. This recipe makes one treatment.

https://thesensiblemom.com/2019/09/how-to-make-a-diy-honey-sugar-facial-scrub-recipe-video/

Do you make your own sugar scrubs?

DIY: How to Make Homemade Hair Conditioner

September 13, 2019 by Sandra 6 Comments

Of all the do-it-yourself recipes I’ve tried, homemade hair conditioner is one of the easiest.

It’s seriously simple and only requires three ingredients: hot distilled water, apple cider vinegar, and jojoba oil.

That’s it! Best of all, it only takes a few minutes to make at home.

Apple Cider Vinegar? On My Hair?

If you have apple cider vinegar in your home or have used it in the past, you know that it has a strong odor; so you may be apprehensive about adding such an ingredient to your hair conditioner.

Let me tell you, while the apple cider vinegar’s scent is noticeable when you apply the hair conditioner, it’s barely discernible as your hair dries.

And it’s undetectable once your hair is completely dry.

Storing Homemade Hair Conditioner

My favorite way to store DIY hair conditioner is in an inexpensive dispenser bottle. The one I currently use was $0.98 at Walmart; and it’s perfect because of the long tip that makes it easy to apply the conditioner effectively. This is important because this particular hair conditioner has a watery consistency and is quite different from the store bought versions.

Do you know what else makes this conditioner different?

It isn’t full of chemicals.

It only has three ingredients, and you can pronounce them all. Plus, it works! 🙂

How to Make Hair Conditioner Video

To show you how quick and easy it is to make this recipe, I created a video for you.

And here’s the Printable Hair Conditioner Recipe:

DIY Homemade Hair Conditioner

Ingredients

1 cup distilled water, hot
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
¼ teaspoon jojoba oil

Instructions

In a measuring cup with a spout (for easy transfer) or even in the container that will hold your conditioner, combine the ingredients and stir or shake, if you're using a dispenser bottle. If necessary, transfer hair conditioner to a different container for storage. Use as desired.

https://thesensiblemom.com/2019/09/diy-make-homemade-hair-conditioner/

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do. It’s definitely a keeper. 🙂

What are some of your favorite DIY recipes?

Sweet Homemade Pumpkin Pie Recipe (and a Recipe for Pie Dough Cutouts)

September 12, 2019 by Sandra 7 Comments

Thanks to Door to Door Organics for partnering with me on this recipe collaboration. I used their awesome food delivery service to gather ingredients for the recipe in this post.

I love pumpkin pie.

I’ve tried many different varieties over the years that fall into the categories of being either store bought, from a restaurant, or homemade.

And, you know, homemade wins every time.

Yes, there are some restaurant pies that are pretty awesome, but still, nothing beats homemade when you have a fantastic recipe! 🙂

Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Today, I’m sharing my tried and true recipe for pumpkin pie. I love it because it creates a sweet pumpkin pie with a perfectly baked crust. Yum, yum, and yum!

Here’s the Printable Recipe:

Sweet Homemade Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients

1-1/4 cups rice milk
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 15 oz. can pumpkin puree (or two cups of fresh pumpkin puree)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 single pie crust

Instructions

Adjust an oven rack to the lowest position and place a baking sheet on the rack. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. (I like using a baking sheet that's only rimmed on two sides. This makes it easier to place the pie on the hot baking sheet when the times comes.)
In a medium bowl, whisk together the rice milk, eggs, and vanilla extract. Set aside.
In a large saucepan, mix together the pumpkin puree, sugar, brown sugar, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Then cook the mixture over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes just until it's heated through. Stir frequently.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and slowly whisk in the milk mixture until ingredients are totally incorporated.
Place the pie crust into the bottom of the pie pan. Then pour the pumpkin mixture into the prepared pie crust.
Carefully place the pie on the hot baking sheet in the oven and bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.
Once 10 minutes have passed, rotate the baking sheet, and turn the temperature down to 300 degrees. Bake another 60 to 85 minutes until the pie looks mostly firm, but the center of the pie is still not quite set. The pie will finish firming up and setting as it cools.
Remove the pie from the oven and allow it to cool for approximately two hours before serving. This pumpkin pie is fantastic on its own or topped off with your favorite whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon. *Pie dough cutouts are a great way to decorate your pie. See the recipe below for pie dough cutouts and ideas.

https://thesensiblemom.com/2019/09/sweet-homemade-pumpkin-pie-recipe/

More About Pumpkin Pie

Below is what my pie looked like the same day I made it and after it had cooled. I used homemade pumpkin puree for the pie pictured, but canned pumpkin puree works great, too.

Helpful Tip: If you make this pie using canned pumpkin puree, then your pie will likely be finished baking around 60 minutes after you turn the temperature down to 300 degrees.

On the flip side, if you make this pie using homemade pumpkin puree, then your pie will likely be ready to take out of the oven around 85 minutes after you turn the oven down to 300 degrees. This has been my experience, anyway. 🙂

This pie happens to be a great make-ahead dessert. Which means that if you’re making pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving or some other occasion, you can make it the day before, and it’ll be ready when you need it!

Here’s what my pumpkin pie looked like the day after I baked it:

Onto the Crust

Okay, pie crusts… they matter. A lot. So, if you don’t have a good recipe for a pie crust, I absolutely love the recipe I shared here. I use it every single time I make apple, pumpkin, or any sort of berry pie. It’s an awesome recipe. Trust me.

Do note, though, that that particular recipe is for a double pie crust. I recommend either freezing one-half for later use or using the other half to make a bunch of pie dough cutouts.

You’ll soon see that I chose to do the latter. 😉

Helpful Tip: By baking the pie at a lower temperature of 300 degrees, you avoid burning the crust. The crust comes out beautiful, and the pie is creamy, sweet, and delicious!

Recipe for Pie Dough Cutouts

Before I jump into the recipe, I’ll start by saying that if you only want one or two simple cutouts to decorate your pumpkin pie with, then you don’t need a double pie crust. Duh, right?

You can simply use the excess dough from a single pie crust and with a cookie cutter or pie crust cutter, make whatever shape you’d like. Then brush the cutout with a little milk, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, and bake for about 8 to 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Allow the cutout(s) to cool, and then carefully place atop the finished pumpkin pie.

Now for those of us that want to get a touch more complicated, I’m sharing a recipe below for how to make a bunch of pie dough cutouts that could be used to decorate your pumpkin pie, or served alongside a slice of pie, or atop a single serving of pie.

Oh, the possibilities! 🙂

Here’s the Printable Recipe:

Pie Dough Cutouts

Ingredients

1 single pie crust
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon rice milk

Instructions

Move oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Stir the cinnamon and sugar together in a small bowl. Set aside.
Roll out the pie crust on a floured surface, then using pie crust cutters or cookie cutters, proceed to cut out shapes. *Tip: Dip the pie crust cutters or cookie cutters in flour before using them to cut out shapes. This helps to prevent sticking.
Place shapes on a baking sheet, and brush the tops with rice milk. Then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
Place the baking sheet in the oven and cook for about 8 to 10 minutes or until the pie cutouts appear light golden brown.
Once cutouts are finished baking, remove the baking sheet from the oven, and place the cutouts on a wire rack to cool. Use to decorate pumpkin pie.

https://thesensiblemom.com/2019/09/sweet-homemade-pumpkin-pie-recipe/

Helpful Tip: If you’d like to keep the cutouts really simple, skip the cinnamon sugar and rice milk, and bake the cutouts plain at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes.

I’d love to know, what are some of your favorite ways to use pumpkin in recipes?

How to Make a Honey Sugar Facial Scrub:

Here’s the Printable Recipe:

Apple Cider Vinegar? On My Hair?

Storing Homemade Hair Conditioner

How to Make Hair Conditioner Video

And here’s the Printable Hair Conditioner Recipe:

Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Here’s the Printable Recipe:

More About Pumpkin Pie

Here’s what my pumpkin pie looked like the day after I baked it:

Onto the Crust

Recipe for Pie Dough Cutouts

Here’s the Printable Recipe:

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